Paint roller cleaner and dryer



April 14, 1959 'E. WRAGE PAINT ROLLER CLEANER AND DRYER Filed Feb. '7, 1957 Fig.

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*3 a M m 2 T o M M W/ 2/ 8 M M H a L r k thrtrulrrkLPIFLLIEIFFF r 1 v o w I L im f r 4 'll! \6 k l m m 2 m .M v. S I 8 B United States Patent PAINT ROLLER CLEANER AND DRYER Ehlert Wrage, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 7, 1957, Serial No. 638,850

3 Claims. (Cl. 134-156) This invention relates to a simple, practical and an efficient, manually actuatable mechanical device through the medium of which a user thereof may rotate the removable fabric sleeve of a roller-type paint applier in liquid solvent, and in this manner satisfactorily clean and restore the same for subsequent use or temporary storage, as the case may be.

The customary way of cleaning a paint roller today is by immersing the roller in a paint solvent and thus washing and cleansing the paint saturated surfaces. This practice involves a hand procedure and is, of course, messy, unsanitary and, in fact, detrimental to ones health inasmuch as paint solvents are usually poisonous.

Confronted with this problem, mechanical paint roller cleaners have been produced and oflfered by others. Typical examples are the Zelkowitz Patent 2,704,931 of March 29, 19 55 and another patent to one .Wilsing 2,725,065 of November 29, 1955. The reader may therefore make reference to these two prior patents, among others,.and thus acquaint himself with the state of the art to which the present invention relates. It will be ascertained, having done so, that the invention herein revealed is similar in some respects to the Wilsing patent.

The object of the present invention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon similarly conjstructed and performing prior art paint roller cleaning devices and, in doing so, to provide a more successful device in which manufacturers will find their manufacturing requirements and economies met, painters and decorators will find their needs more efliciently and economically met, and do-it-yourself users will find their needs not only fully taken into account, but likewise effectually met.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention, an open top container for the liquid solvent is used. A lid or cover is fitted removably on and said splash shield and also a temporary closure for the container. A frame is fixed to and carried by the cover. The frame embodies, among other parts, a pair of spaced, parallel rigid frame members including leg portions which depend below the cover and extend down into the receptacle portion of the container. Upper end portions of the frame members project above the cover and provide mounting means for a satisfactory hand grip. The cover and frame are integrated into a single unit. A reel is mounted for rotation on the frame and situated between the depending leg portions and means is provided in cooperation with the reel and frame in such a manner that the reel may be turned or rotated in one direction by way of a pull cord and returned in an opposite direction by way of an automatically operating coiled spring.

The invention also features a reel which has an opentype wire head. This is such in construction that it permits the sleeve to be removed from the mandrel or roller of the paint applier and then slipped over the head, the head being of open form construction so that the cleaning solution or liquid is utilized to best advantage.

Other objects, features and advantages will become ice - roller cleaner and dryer, showing how it is constructed tainer.

vided with a washer 30 held in place by a suitable pin. The upper end portion extends through and is mounted.

and assembled for use, a portion of the container being broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view taken approximately on the vertical line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sections on the lines 3-3 and 44, respectively, of Fig. 2.

The container is preferably cylindrical and of suitable size to contain and satisfactorily hold the necessary amount of liquid solvent (not shown).

cylindrical can 8 which is, of course, imperforate and provided with an appropriate bottom 10. The open top portion is covered with a lid or cover 12 having a friction-fitted marginal flange or rim 14. The central portion of the cover is provided with a bearing hole 16 for the adjacent portion of the shaft 18 of the reel 20. The head of the reel is made up of circumferentially spaced, substantially U-shaped wire members 22 having their laterally directed end portions 24 connected with hubs 26, which are in turn fastened on the intended portions of the shaft. It will be noted that the shaft depends with the head into the receptacle portion of the container but terminates above the bottom of the con- The upper end portion 28 of the shaft is profor rotation in a bearing 32 in a horizontal crosspiece or brace 34 forming an essential part of the frame 36. The frame is made up as before stated of a pair of linearly straight, strap-like frame members which are secured intermediate their ends as at 38 to the lid or cover 12. Therefore, the lid and frame form a structural unit. The

elongated lower end portions 40 of the frame members provide legs, and these depend into the receptacle portion and rest removably on the bottom 10, as brought out in Figs. 1 and 2. The upper end portions 42 extend above the lid and carry the crosspiece 34 and also a rod 44 supporting and retaining a wooden or equivalent hand grip 46. The inner end of a cord or the like 48 is attached to the extended upper end portion of the shaft and confined by a collar 50, and this is adapted to coil or wind on the shaft, with the shaft serving as a winding and reeling drum. The outer end portion of the cord is knotted, as at 52, and secured to a handle 54. This outer end portion passes slidably through a guide opening 56 provided therefor in one of the frame members at the right in Fig. 2. A companion coil spring 58 is provided, and the inner end 60 (Fig. 4) is keyed or otherwise anchored to the shaft. The opposite end portion 62 is attached to an anchoring element 64 carried by the brace.

In practice, the paint loaded fabric sleeve A (such as ordinarily employed on a conventional type paint roller or applier) is, of course, slipped endwise over the openwork or wire head or the reel in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is then immersed in the liquid solvent in the can or container 6, as depicted in the drawing. Sutficient solvent is utilized to substantially cover the roller. The user holds the hand grip 46 with one hand, and with the other hand he catches hold of the handle 54 on the pull cord and pulls the cord out and releases it so that it unwinds and winds in a well known recoiling manner. In fact, the spring action of the recoiling spring 58 is automatic and will pull the cord back in and rewind it. As the sleeve on the head 20 rotates first in one direction and then in the other direction it is swished It is denoted bythe numeral 6 and comprises a metal or an equivalent forcibly in the solution, and by continuing the operation of. pulling and releasing the cord, the user will find in. a minute or less that the sleeve will be free of all traces of the coated paint. The cover and device is lifted from the solvent container and placed in a dry bucket. By repeating the pulling process, using a few swift pulls on the handle, all liquid is spun from the sleeve.

The foregoingis considered as illustrative. only of the. principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to. limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed- What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For use when cleaning; and subsequently drying. a fabric: sleeve suchas. is used on a roller-type paint applier: a: sleeve holding and rotating device comprising, in combination, an open top container. for a liquid solvent, 21 cover fitted removably on and closing the open top of said container, a frame. fixed to and carried by said cover, said frame embodying frame members including leg portions depending fro-m the cover into the receptacle portion of the container with their lowerends resting on the bottom of the container and handle portions projecting accessibly above. the cover and provided with a hand grip, a reel mounted for rotation on said frame and situated in said container between the depending leg portions, and means cooperating with said reel and frame, whereby the reel may be alternatively rotated in opposite directions, means comprising a pull cord with one end secured to said reel, a handle secured to the other end of said cord, and a coil spring having one. end anchored on the frame and ,the other end operatively secured to said reel.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said reel comprises an open-work wire head mounted on an axially disposed shaft, said shaft turning in bearings provided therefor on the cover and also on a cross member embodied in and forming a part of said frame, said one end of the pull cord being attached to and coilable on the shaft, said other end of the coil spring being also anchored on said shaft.

3. A paint roller cleaner spinner and dryer of 'a manually actuatable mechanical type comprising an attachment for an open top container for liquid solvent, a readily attachable and detachable cover adapted to be removably fitted on and to close the otherwise open top of said container, a vertically elongated frame embodying a pair of spaced parallel frame members having median portions attached to diametrically opposite portions of said cover, the portion-s of the frame members depending below said cover constituting legs and the lower ends of said legs being adapted to. rest upon the bottom of said container, the upper end portions of said frame members. extending above the plane of said cover and having a cross member interposed therebetween and also a hand grip interposed therebetween, the hand grip being disposed in spaced parallelism in respect to the cross member, the median portion of the cross member having a bearing, and said cover having a bearing in alignment therewith, a reel comprising an open-work wire head mounted on an axially: disposed. shaft, said head being located between the leg portions, that portion of the shaft above the upper end of the head being mounted for rotation in the bearing in the cross member and bearing in the cover, a coil spring having one end embracing and fixedly secured to the last named portion of said shaft just beneath the cross member, the other end of said coil spring being eccentrically connected with said cross member, said spring being located in thespace be tween the cover and cross member, and a pull cord secured at one end to said shaft, the opposite end of said pull cord being provided with a finger gripping handle-and being slidably operable through an opening provided therefor in one of the. frame members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 944,329 Henry Dec. 28, 1909 2,062,100 McCornack Nov, 24, 1936 2,489,710 Janisch Nov. 29, 1949 2,704,931 Zelkowitz Mar. 29, 1955 2,711,748 Barsness June 28, 1955 2,725,065 Wilsing .......7. Nov. 29, 1955 

